No, that's fine.

It's sort of a chick-egg situation.

Having the manual in hand makes a lot of the purchase of parts easier, because you know what you need. However, if you have the ti and donor car, you know exactly which diagrams you need...

I can always send the diagrams electronically later for you...

I just want to make sure this covers a automatic to manual conversion before buying. Please advise. Thanks.

Automatic to manual conversion is covered in the manual, yes.

The associated problems with using an auto DME with a manual is also mentioned as well...

Another minor up-date.

The manual is now 118 pages long. I added another picture and cleaned up some of the confusing text here and there. Mothing major (the photo was the biggest change) but just wanted to keep everyone aware.

Also, wiring diagrams will be sent electronically from now on. By eliminating the cost of the CD and time to make it up, I can hold my sales price down for a while longer! Plus, you don't have to know your donor car model year right away either! (Remember to have yur manual serial number ready when you contact me later for the diagrams!)

Cost is still just $70.00 per copy! Cheaper than a set of Spark Plugs!

I purchased a manual a few years ago. I can PM my doc. number. I'm just wondering if there have been any updates since I purchased it.
Regards,
SB

The last BIG update was the addition of the six-speed info. If you have that, you have basically the whople ball of wax.

If you did not get wiring diagrams (and still need them) I can provide those via electronic means. e-mail me directly at jim[dot]leach[at]sulzer[dot]com with your name and manual number and I will get it off to you!

The pic below is the one just added...

Jim,

Have you considered a low-cost "Intro" manual, just to summarize what's involved, what the manual is like, et cetera? I'm interested in finding out more about swaps before deciding if I want to go further. Your manual sounds fascinating, BTW!

Greg

I had not considered that option, but thinking about it, it seems like a great deal of time and effort for little payback.

The manual is one of the least expensive 'parts' you will purchase doing the swap, and having it will save you countless hours and aggravation. I don't know about you, but my time has value, and if I could have bought something like this when I did my swap, I would not have hesitated!

Everyone who purchases it gets some good information out of it- even those people who end up not doing a swap after all.

All that is available other than my book now is the OBD-I swap info. And, by the way, it costs more than mine does too...

Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on your "full manual", which I haven't seen. I subscribe to Lynda.com to learn how to use various software packages by watching online video clips. Non-subscribers can see selected video clips within each lesson ... just enough to whet their appetites, I suppose. So, for people running the site, there's very little additional effort involved. Of course, the authors know this in advance and design their lessons in a suitable manner.

Back when my teen-aged son was interested in Civics (and engine swaps), we found a Honda engine swap guide. Before purchasing the guide, the author recommended you subscribe to his "mini-newsletter". For several days in a row, you'd receive an email discussing various parts of the process, such as finding reliable sources for the parts. I don't know how many of the people who subscribed to the newsletter ended up buying his manual, but I know I did.

One other idea ... have you thought about breaking the book up? Would the suspension upgrades be useful in and of themselves?

From all I've read here, I have no doubt of that. That's why I'll likely end up buying your manual! If possession is truly nine-tenths of the laws, then I don't even own a 318ti yet. My recently-purchased Compact is going to be taken away from me by my college student son next week. I'm already looking for a cheap ti with a dodgy drivetrain!

That could be the first part of your newsletter ... "Factors to consider when purchasing a recipient ti". Part Two could be "Finding the right donor car". I was searching for a donor on eBay and saw one that lead you to believe it was an M3, when it was actually a 318ti with a badly-damaged front-end. I'm guessing that would be a very bad donor for several reasons.



Greg

MacUser- you cannot copy the manual but you can resell it here, ebay, etc. You do/would own the thing- buy the full manual and if you don't see value discount it $10 and someone will pick it up.

But seriously, I have one of his manuals. It's nicely put together and is probably THE BEST starting point if you're new to e36 swaps. I say starting point because other people have done different motors, perfected or changed techniques, installed M roady rear ends, etc. You'd be well served to read as much as you can in the Swap forum too, come up with a budget, power goal and what your priorities are. Do want M brakes right away? Just want an M50 OBDI swap instead of an OBDII S52? There is a HUGE cost difference and it matters what Ti you buy (OBDI vs. OBDII say). Lots of options to go with, the cheapest of which is to pick up a wrecked 325/8 and use the engine, trans, brakes, cluster, EWS, DME, keys, etc. On the other end would be cherry picking suspension from an Mroady/coupe + M3 sedan motor, dash, etc. You get the idea.

Get in here and start asking questions!

Great manual. As far as getting my swap ready, I have the donor car sitting next to the ti: 76K 1997 E36 M3/4/5. I was curious if you would recommend doing the swap by removing the bumper, radiator, etc? I checked out this video. Although it’s a different vehicle, it seems as though it’s a PITA. Any thoughts? Thanks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fb-kTqzlbg

You certainly CAN pull the nose if you want to; I know of one swap first hand done this way. Obviously it adds time to the job, although it also reduces the chance of damage to any of the parts you remove...

Difficult to say as every job and person is different.

If all you have is a cherry-picker, I'd suggest pulling the nose to reduce the height you have to lift the engines in the air for safety. If you have a chain-fall, I think leaving the nose on is the faster way to do it, again assuming you have enough height to get the engine high enough safely...

Hi Jim i have a 95 5speed ti ob1 and want to do a s50 ob1 swap. have done swaps on honda's before. and this bmw swap that i want to do is my first. Am trying to get info on this swap they say its eazy but when u have experiance in a car line i guess its eazy. With bmw am a rookie and would like to tackle this swap. i take it that ur swap manual covers od1 to obd1 s50 swap right? i know i can do this if i have a manual i can follow. i did it with hondas. price for info is priceless. so purchasing the swap manual is not a issue i just want to know if the proper info is there for me to tackle this job on my obd1 95ti . thanks jim sounds like u have many years of experiance with bmw.

Hello!

The manual certainly will be very helpful to you, no doubt about that.

If you have engine swap experience at all (and it sounds as if you do) it is quite easy with the 1995 swap.

BUT (and there's always a 'but') 1995 becomes month dependent a bit due to the fact that this is when the OBD-I to OBD-II switch took place, and also the EWS system was re-vamped... Not deal breakers, either of them, but sometimes it can literally be plug-n-play and other times it is a bit more complicated than that.

Note also that when you purchase a manual, you get wiring diagrams (FACTORY ones) for your ti and your donor car. You also get e-mail support from me to help you over the hurdles.

sounds good Jim now how do i purchase this GREAT! info from u. hope my production is the plug and play but if not then i do have access to a GT1 and progman. my production on my 95ti is a 06/95 production date with a m42. Thanks again Jim hope i can takcle this swap with great results.